Smartphones

While RIM wrestles with marrying its BlackBerry Playbook with Google’s Android operating system and Apple’s iOS, one Dutch developer (named “Gamer109X”) decided to find out if a third option would work. He installed Microsoft’s Windows Phone OS onto RIM’s BlackBerry PlayBook.

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Surprisingly, the result is a tablet that seems pretty responsive. For those curious to know what a Windows Phone tablet might look like, watch the following video of the developer’s PlayBook running Microsoft’s Window Phone OS. Gamer109X said he plans to release his own Windows Phone build for the PlayBook to the public in the coming months.

If you believe Microsoft’s last position on the tablets, they have no interest in bringing Windows Phone to tablets. That position might be irrelevant once Microsoft’s Windows 8 platform is released. If you think about it, there is no reason to put Windows Phone on a tablet, but Windows 8...

Back in January of this year, market research firm Deloitte estimated that 2012 will see entry-level smartphones become more popular with the number of sub-$100 smartphones in use globally will surpass 500 million this year, and by the end of 2012 there will be 200 million NFC-equipped devices in the hands of consumers. Moreover, it also maintained that it sees apps continuing to play a huge role in the mobile market, with the number of available apps set to top 2 million later this year.

More recently, a survey conducted by ABI Research reported that more than 70% of app users spend little to nothing on apps, while the highest 3% of all spenders account for nearly 20% of the total amount spent.

While nearly two-thirds of consumers in the United States have spent money on mobile applications on at least one occasion, the total amount being spent isn’t much. ABI senior analyst Aapo Markkanen stated, “The median amount among the consumers who spend money on apps is much lower than the average, just $7.50 per month. This reflects the disproportionate role of big spenders as a revenue source.”

ABI also found that the most successful money-making apps are utility apps used for business purposes and iOS games that utilize in-app purchases. In each case, purchases are made by a very small number of customers.

It looks like Apple is making some adjustments to its current product inventories in preparation for the upcoming launch of the 6thgeneration iPhone.

According to Sterne Agee analyst Shaw Wu in a note to investors, Apple has reduced iPhone orders by between 20% to 25% from the 35.1 million units the company shipped in the first quarter of this year. Wu now expects shipments of between 26 million and 28 million. With the estimated 8.6 million iPhones already in the pipeline, Apple will have an iPhone supply of between four and six weeks in inventory.

According to Wu, “From our understanding, the reason for the reduction is not demand related but rather due to the upcoming 6th generation iPhone refresh likely in the September-October timeframe. It appears that APPLE is opting to be conservative with its suppliers to factor in a potential 2-quarter pause ahead of the refresh and also to manage inventory. We believe this helps explain why its June quarter guidance was somewhat more conservative.”

Wu also explained developments on the iPad front. He reported that Apple is finally increasing their new iPad build plans. Shipments of the device were previously held back due to the supply of its new Retina Display, and the situation has been “greatly improved with an additional supplier.” Wu believes that this will help Apple to better meet strong demand for its iPad3.

For the June quarter, Wu reduced his iPhone forecast from 28 million units to 27 million, and raised iPad shipment expectations from 14 million to 15 million units. Due to improved iPad profitability, Wu increased his gross margin assumption from 42.5% to 43.5% and forecasted $36.1 billion in revenue and $10.16 in EPS. He’s keeping his Buy rating on shares of Apple stock, as well as his $780 price target.

This news is confirmed by early NenaMark2 benchmarks, which show a Galaxy S3 (SCH-I535) with a 1.5GHz dual-core S4. It looks like the reason for the hardware exchange is the LTE capability, which the Exynos 4 Quad chipset doesn't have.

The benchmark also shows the Adreno 225 GPU in the Snapdragon S4 beats the Mali-400MP in the Exynos Quad by a couple of frames. This could be attributed to the pre-release software or inconsistency in the NenaMark2 benchmark. The Galaxy S3 screen is capped at 60FPS, so results close to that point may not be spot on.

During the Consumer Electronics Show, Samsung announced that the company was working on merging its Bada mobile operating system with the open-source Tizen operating system.

Samsung is currently the second-largest cellphone maker in the world, with devices powered by four major operating systems. By focusing on its own operating system, Samsung has more control over its devices and a greater opportunity to differentiate its products from its competitors. By merging the two operating systems, Samsung is hoping that existing Bada developers will transition to Tizen.

While still in development, the Tizen operating system is open-source and backed by Intel and the Linux Foundation. When the Bada integration is complete, Tizen will support programs written with Samsung’s Bada SDK, including both new and previously published apps.

Tizen, according to reports, features a program called Application Compatibility Layer (ACL), which enables the device to run applications built using different code. ACL is similar to RIM’s Android player for its BlackBerry PlayBook.

A new video has been released that demonstrates the Samsung/Intel-backed Tizen OS running Android apps.

Open Mobile, the company behind ACL, claims Android apps will be able to run on a Tizen-powered device with 100% compatibility, and stated that ACL features the same level of responsiveness users would expect on a device that runs on Android OS. The company would also like to make sure that the ACL will be integrated into smartphones and tablets by vendors and not end users.

As usual, there probably will be a few bugs to be worked out in the field, but all indicators are that Tizen is a well-designed and truly open source alternative to Google's Android.

HTC and Apple are battling it out in a patent dispute. As a result, shipments of the HTC EVO 4G LTE and HTC One X smartphones have been held up by United States Customs as part of an International Trade Commission investigation.

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This action has caused Sprint to delay the launch of their EVO 4G LTE device indefinitely. AT&T is reporting that its supply of HTC One X will be taxed due to the ongoing fight between HTC and Apple. Before the phones can clear U.S. Customs, the ITC will need to determine if HTC’s latest handsets are in compliance with an earlier ruling.

A spokesman from HTC said, “The US availability of the HTC One X and HTC EVO 4G LTE has been delayed due to a standard U.S. Customs review of shipments that is required after an ITC exclusion order. We believe we are in compliance with the ruling and HTC is working closely with Customs to secure approval. The HTC One X and HTC EVO 4G LTE have been received enthusiastically by customers and we appreciate their patience as we work to get these products into their hands as soon as possible.”

Sprint had planned a May 18th launch of the EVO 4G LTE, a customized version of the One X. It was going to be available for $199.99 on contract. AT&T launched their version of the One X earlier this month. The device now shows as out of stock on the AT&T website.

HTC has officially revealed its latest Android smartphone, the HTC Desire C. With Beats Audio (without the headphones) and Android 4.0 Ice Cream Sandwich with Sense 4.0, Desire C is a nice little device for the entry-level market. The Desire C includes a 3.5-inch HVGA touchscreen and a 5-megapixel camera. The handset is 12mm thick and boasts a durable metal frame. This superb smartphone also provides an inherent audio system based on the legendary Beat by Dr. Dre

The phone is powered by a Qualcomm Snapdragon S1 chipset with a CPU of 600MHz. The actual chipset model number isn’t yet known, but the best guess has it as the MSM7225A with a Cortex-A5 CPU and 512MB RAM (the same one that powers the Explorer).

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The HTC Desire C also has some nice extras. Owners get 4GB of built-in storage (plus 25GB cloud space from Dropbox for 2 years), a microSD card slot, 3G with 7.2Mbps HSDPA, Bluetooth 4.0, Wi-Fi and USB 2.0. The battery has 1230mAh capacity, and users can access it themselves.

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Just like they told us at the Mobile World Congress earlier this year, HTC has got some new presents on their way to you HTC One series owners in the form of a revamped Media Link HD product and its Car offering. They’re finally giving us a few more hints about what’s in store with it.

HTC recently released two new YouTube clips describing some of the technology which includes two specially designed dongles, and a snazzy on-phone interface, and the software/hardware combo streams audio and/or video to your output medium of choice.

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If you’re one of those new HTC One series owners of needing a new gadget fix, the HTC website promises that the new systems will be available "this April". Oh wait, it’s June. Well, we’re sure they meant April 2012.

Digitimes website is reporting a couple more rumors about Apple’s next iReleases. Apple may be launching both the next generation iPhone and a new 10-inch iPad sometime this fall, possibly as early as September.

Digitimes also claims that Apple supplier Pegatron Technology has already landed orders for both the latest handset and the new iPad. We believe the report that the iPhone is coming. Since Apple just launched its new iPad three months ago, the iPad report may turn out to be too much to hope for. The website also claims that Foxconn will have the honors of putting together the rumored 7-inch tablet that we may be seeing as early as August.